Art of distilling petroleum oils



April 2@ E925.'

9 G, M, FIFIELQ 1,535,457

ART 0F DISTILLING PETROLEUM OILS Filed mol-13126, 1920 5 Sheets-sheet sl ya, i

@W f gm Apri 2s, 1925. 1,535,457

'(3.7 H FIFIELD ART 0F DISTILLING PETROLEUM OILS Filed April 26, 1920 3SheetS-Shb 2 zwefir April 2s, w25.

G. H. FIFIELD ART 0F `DIS'IILLING PETROLEUM OILS Filed A april 2e, 19203 sheets-sheet 1 Patented /Apn 28, 1925. s

GEORGE n. FIFIELD, or wm'rrive, iraniana.

. F i s. y

ART F DIS'IFILLING- PETROLEUM GILS.

Application i'lled April 26, 1920. Serial N0. 376,630.

' To all 'whom t may/j concern:

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' "lle it known that l, GEoRu1c"H- Firriato, a citizen of theUnitedStates, residing at Whiting, in the county of Lake and State of Indiana,have invented a new and useful Improvement .in the Art of DistillingPetroleum iIS, of which the following is a specification. l v

The present invention relates to the. art of distilling petroleum oilsand more particularly'to `the distillation of such oils with fire andsteam. lt will be clearly understood ironrthe following description,which is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 isa'vertical section. longitudinally thru the still on a broken line asindicated in Fig. 3. J

Figure 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2-2 ot Fig. 1, and

'Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 5 indicates ashell still provided with the usual feed and discharge pipes 6 and 'i'and `with a steam inlet plpe 8, which extendsv into the still asperforated pipe 9, thru which steam may be admitted into the still nearits bottom. rlhe still is likewise provided with a suitable overheadline 10 through which vapors discharge to a condenser. A suitable gauge1l may be provided for observing the level of the still contents.

A. plurality of tubes 12 pass thru the still longitudinally, opening atone end into a space 13 at one end of the still setting and at the otherinto the flue 14C leading to the stack, for example. rlhe combustiongases from the fireplace 15 play against the lbottom of the still 5 andpass back to the space 13, from which they pass thru the tubes 12 to theliuc' 14. A. hollow buttress 16 servesito supportthe end of the stillv 5and also to protect the pipes 6, 7 and 8, which pass thru it, from thedirect heat of the combustion gases. The tubes 12 have a combinedsurface greater than the heated surface of the still proper, and arearranged in two roups, spaced from each other by .a suitab e distance,say

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one foot, this spa-ce being sucient to provide passageway between thegroups of tubes. The tubes are spaced from the bottom of the still,being arranged near the central line of the still, the top row ot tubesbeing, if desired, slightly above this line. ln operation there isnormally a body of oil in the' stillcxtending above the tubes, a largebulk of which is between the directly heated still surface and thelowermost bank of tubes. One or -more brackets or top of the still, aidin supporting the tubes and prevents sagging.

In operation for the` production of viscous lubricating oils a still,for example, l2 by 40 feet, is charged to a point above `the tubes witha stock having a density of, say 29.6 B. and a viscosity of'60 to 64 at100 F., and is heated by combustion in the fireplace 15 while steam isadmitted to the bottom oi the still.` rlhe combustion gases pass alongthe bottom of the still where a relatively high average temperature(above 100G-11009 F., Jfor example) prevails to the space 13and fromthere thru the tubes 12 at an average temperature between 300 and 400lower, to flue lll. 'lhe` temperature ot the liquid in the still will beapproximately to 75 less than that' of the. gases leaving the tubessubstantially all of the available heat ot the gases having beenimparted tothe oil in the still. The tube surface is large relative tothe heated still surface, there being, ytor example, 40 to 60 tubes ofany suitable diameter, say 4 3 inches, while the directly heated area ofthedrum approximatesabout l/th of its cylindrical surface. The tubesurface may be six to eight times the directly heated surface oi' thedrum. rlhe charging stock is constantly supplied to the still duringdistillation in proportion to the quantity of distillate produced, andthe distillation continues until the still contents have the desiredviscosity, say 240 at 100 F. 'lhe contents oit the still may be thendischargedl and subjected to the usual acid treating processes. ltdesired, and particularly in shorter vstills the combustion gases may bepassed in one direction through one set of tubes and returned throughthe other, suitable bames being provided fo-rthis purpose.

rlhe distribution of the heat in accordance with the invention appearsto materially decrease the breaking down or loss ot viscosity ot theresidues in the still, as the yield ot residues of a determinedviscosity from a certain quantity of stock is consid- .supports 17,preferably suspended from the erably greater when the distillation iscary ried out as above described than` when the distillation is carriedout in an ordinary shell still. Furthermore the running capacity ot thestill is much greater than with stills of the ordinary shell type. It isreadily apparent that the still may be utilized in the distillation ofoils without steam, particularly in such distillation processes as theskimming of crudes, etc.

Vf hat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A shell still, means for supplying steam at the bottom of the still;means for heating the lower portio'n of the still surface; a pluralityof tubes passing thru the still near the center line of the stillproviding a heating area greater than the heated area of the stillsurface and means for heating the surface of said tubes to a lowertemperature than the temperature of the heated still surace.

2. A shell still, means for supplying steam at the bottom of the still,means for heating the lower portion of the still surface, a pluralityof' horizontal tubes passing longitudinally through the still near thecenterline of the still Vproviding a heating area greater than theheated area of the still surface and means for heating the surfaces ofsaid tubes to a lower temperature than the temperature of the heatedstill surface.

3. A shell still, means for supplying steam at the bottom of the still,means for heating the lower portion of the still surface, a plurality oihorizontal tubes passing longitudinally thru the still near the centerline of the still providing a heating area greater than the heated areaof the still surface, said tubes being spaced from the bottom of 'thestill, and means for heating the sur/faces of the tubes.

4. A shell still, means for supplying steam at the bottom of the still,means for heating the lower portion of the still surface, a plurality ohorizontal tubes passing longitudinally thru the still near the centerline of the still providing a heating area greater' than the heated areaof the still surface, said tubes being spaced from the bottom of theLasse-er still and arranged in two horizontally vspaced groups, andmeans for heating the surfaces of the tubes and the bottom of the still.

A shell still, means `'for supplying stean."

the still providing a heating area greater than the heated area of thestill surface and means for conducting heated gases first over thebottom' of the still and then thru the tubes.

6. The process of tire and steam distillation of hydro-carbon oils whichconsists in maintaining a body of oil in a confined space, applying heatat an average tempera ture above 10004100o F. at the bottom ot theconned body ot oil, injecting steam thereinto near its bottom' andapplying heat to an area in excess of that of the bottom of the oil bodyto which heat is applied, said area being arranged in distributed zoneswithin the oil intermediate its surface and its heated bottom at anaverage 'temperature more than 300 less than 'that applied at itsbottom, and withdrawing the evolved vapors.

7. The process of re and steam vdistillation of hydro-carbon oils whichconsists in maintaining a body of oil in a contined space, passing aheating medium at high temperature in heat-conductive contact with thebottom of the body of oil whereby heat is imparted thereto and thetemperature ot the heatingmedium lowered, conducting the heating mediumafter contact with the bot tom of the body of oil through the latter andin heat conductive contact with the oil above the vertical center of thebody of oil and below its upper level and over an area in excess of thatof the bottom of 'the oil body 'to-which heat is applied, injectingsteam into the body of oil near the highly heated surface, andwithdrawing the evolved vapors.

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